Fighting is still raging in Damascus, where yesterday many officials were killed by bombing attacks in Syria's capital city. Meanwhile, China remains silent on its position ahead of a UN Security Council vote threatening with non-military sanctions. Al Jazeera offers the profiles of the slain ministers as well as an analysis of how these deaths will affect the regime. Foreign Policy outlines "Assad's...
The United States Naval War College’s International Law Department has digitally published Volume 88 of its International Law Studies Blue Book series, entitled "Non-International Armed Conflict in the Twenty-First Century" and it may be downloaded for free from the Blue Book link on the Naval War College International Law Department’s Stockton Research Portal. Additionally, a direct link to the .pdf file...
The UN Security Council prepares for a new vote on Syria today, amidst raging battles in Damascus and tension between Russia and the West. Among the battles, a suicide attack in Damascus has killed the Syrian Minister of Defense. Foreign Policy looks in-depth into whether it matters that the ICRC has labeled the violence in Syria a non-international armed conflict. For more from Lawfare on...
The ICJ is set to deliver its judgment in Belgium v. Senegal, this Friday, July 20, 2012. The press release from the Court is found here. The UN Security Council has condemned the rebel attacks in eastern Congo and demanded an end to outside support for the conflict on the Rwanda-Congo border. The African Union has urged the group Mali Ansar Dine...
The sudden announcement that North Korea's military chief was relieved of his duties for health reasons has spurred rumors about a possible power struggle. Cambodia and Thailand have announced that they will redeploy some of the troops stationed at the Preah Vihar temple from Wednesday onwards, to comply with last year's order of the ICJ. Maritime disputes between China and Japan and China and the Philippines continue. Foreign Policy points...
Conferences & events The Brookings Institution will host Translating Human Rights into Practice: A Conversation on the United Nations Human Rights Council: Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 2:00 — 3:30 pm in Washington, D.C. Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law along with ASIL will host Human Rights Implications of SCOTUS Decisions in the 2012 Term: Wed., July 18, 2012, from 4:00-5:30...
This week, Opinio Juris was a bit lighter on the blogging due to the Fourth of July holiday in the US, but we did feature a post from Peggy McGuinness that pointed out a discussion on the St. John's Center for Law and Religion Forum around the question of whether American foreign policy is Christian, in a conversation Mark Movsesian had...
Reports say that over 200 civilians have been massacred in execution-style killings in the Hama region of Syria after government forces bombarded the area with helicopter gunships and tanks yesterday. Following talks with the International Olympic Committee, for the first time Saudi Arabia will send female athletes to London to compete in this year's Olympic Games. Human Rights Watch points out...
Syria has been hit by a wave of defections, with the latest--that of the ambassador to Iraq--coming yesterday. Kofi Annan has urged the UN to "reunite" regarding plans moving forward with Syria, suggesting "consequences" were Syria not to comply with the latest ceasefire calls. A human rights group, Women Under Siege, has reported that sexual violence is being used in Syria as a weapon...
Ansar Dine, an al-Qaeda linked group, has destroyed more shrines at a mosque in Timbuktu, Mali, and vowed to continue destroying UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Foreign Policy discusses the issue further here and offers a slideshow of images of the wreckage here. Saudi Arabia has now made it official: it will not be sending female athletes to compete in this year's...
The International Criminal Court handed down the sentence for Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, who received 14 years' imprisonment for conscripting, enlisting and using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities. The time since March 16, 2006 that he has spent in detention will be deducted from his sentence. Judge Odio Benito wrote a separate and dissenting decision...
Survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre re-enacted their escape in Bosnia this weekend ahead of Ratko Mladic's trial, which resumed today at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Tomorrow, the International Criminal Court will deliver the sentence and reparations order for Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, convicted March 14, 2012 of conscripting and enlisting child soldiers and using them to...
